Why 200% salary hike for Odisha MLAs could set an uneasy national benchmark

With lawmakers in Bhubaneswar self-appraising salaries amid public backlash, Ramani Ranjan Mohapatra explains how these are fixed, and why Odisha’s move matters

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Last week, as teachers and ASHA workers protested outside the Odisha Assembly demanding higher pay, legislators inside passed a Bill that sought to more than treble their own salaries, drawing sharp criticism from civil society.

The Bill proposes to hike the monthly take-home pay of members of the legislative assembly (MLAs), including allowances, to about ₹3.45 lakh from ₹1.1 lakh. That would make Odisha’s MLAs the best-paid in the country, roughly equivalent to the combined monthly pay of legislators in Kerala, Punjab and Sikkim, and more than double the per capita income of a dozen states. Their basic monthly pay would increase to about ₹90,000 from ₹35,000; former MLAs are slated to receive a monthly pension of over ₹1.20 lakh.

Passed unanimously on the final day of the winter session on December 10, the Bill met no opposition, besides the absence of the lone CPI(M) MLA, whose party cited low minimum wages for workers in the state. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Mahaling said the hike, after an eight-year gap, factored in inflation. In a letter to Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, Opposition leader Naveen Patnaik said he would forgo the hike in his salary and allowances “for the welfare of the poor people of our state”.